GARNETT WED B TEAM REPORT
Wed 18th Februrary 2004 Dyslexic United 5 (2) vs. (1) 1 Garnett B

I remember once last season, before a break for internationals, Graeme Souness was asked if he thought having a two week break was a good thing or a bad thing for his players. "It's a s**t thing", he said, on TV. Brilliant. But after today's showing, he may have a point.

On arriving at the Union, the rumours that Shrek had been poached by the A's, transpired to be true. Already missing goal machine Steve Moore, this was another blow to the B's, who set off to Close House once again, looking for three points against a Dyslexic side, who would surely be up for revenge after their 5-0 mauling last term, and confident after only narrowly losing to the A's a fortnight ago.

Once again manager Thorpe opted for a 4-4-2 formation, with Murray filling in for the absent Brydon, and Bloomfield making his first start for the whites. Andy Anderson was on the bench, no doubt ready to inject a bit of venom in the second half.

Surprisingly for a Close House fixture, the lads were all out warming up before their opponents, with Monaghan taking his customary pre-match penalty (and scoring) and everyone seemed to be up for the challenge ahead.

The early exchanges were hectic, with not many chances being created. A physical battle it certainly was, although the referee turned a blind eye to bad challenges on Bloomfield and Murray to name but two. Penn picked up an injury early on and battled up front, Heslop dropping back to do the running.

A problem Thorpe pointed to after the match was a lack of pace at the back. "We're too bloody slow" was his comment to the press. Around 20 minutes in, a ball was knocked over the top, and after a scramble in the area, a shot bobbled over the unlucky Harty. 1-0.

After the goal, Garnett worked hard to create several good chances, with shots coming in from Murray and Bloomfield, and a few Heslop corners, but Dyslexic held out, and then struck back with another break, Monaghan at fault as the United striker struck the ball home. 2-0.

Again Garnett stepped up a gear, and were definitely the better team going into the break. Thorpe urged the team to keep going, to keep driving forward and try to stage a comeback. The injured Penn was prepared to battle on for the time being, whilst Monaghan's bust lip meant that he lost the ability to shout, which is probably a good thing.

To the neutral observer, Garnett were definitely the better team in the opening exchanges of the second period. One person who wasn't a neutral observer, however, was the extremely biased referee. So when Paul Murray won a free-kick 25 yards in front of goal, Nico Heslop knew he had to take full advantage. With Bloomfield making a nuisance of himself in the wall, Heslop sent a shot screaming into the keeper's top right corner. 2-1, and the goal of the match by far.

All credit to Dyslexic, though, they could have faded, yet came back ferociously. Within two minutes of Garnett's goal, they restored their two-goal advantage, again on the break. 3-1, and one or two Garnett heads began to drop.

Anderson came on for Penn, with Heslop going back to centre-forward, and Wallace moving from defence to midfield. At this stage the Garnett players were surprisingly more tired than their opponents, with the midfield struggling to keep up with the sea of red shirts hammering the defence. But none of these attacks brought goals, thanks to the work of manager Thorpe and future leader Simms. In fact, the last two goals came from corners, the first very controversial. Harty was clearly impeded in the six yard
box, but the referee was by this time wearing a red shirt, so the goal was given. 4-1. Five minutes later, another corner came in. This reporter missed the goal, but was informed by an unreliable source later that future leader Monaghan allegedly lost his man in the box, leaving him with the most simple of finishes, but that's very hard to believe. 5-1.

Dyslexic were pressing for a sixth, which after a glance at the stats would have been a five goal victory, much like the five goal victory that Garnett imposed on them last term. So, although the day was lost, Garnett held out to win 6-5 on aggregate. But this is no two legged cup tie, like, say, the LDV Northern Area Final, but a league match. And it is imperative that Garnett get a win as soon as possible. The bad news is that the next game is against the A Team. The good news is that they don't have Mr T. (see what I did there?). If the B's win, it may deny Garnett A the title. And as much as I love the mighty green and black, it'd be bloody funny if we beat them.

Also:
Fan's favourite Rory Monaghan begins a series of footballing masterclasses. This week - Marking.

All The Very best.

Rory Monaghan MBE

Team: K. Harty, R. Wallace, R. Monaghan, R. Thorpe, S. Simms, T. Perry, T. Penn, A.Hindle, A.Bloomfield, N. Heslop 1, P. Murray (MoM),
Sub: A. Anderson

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